


A Rare Individual

by Jemppu



Series: Months [2]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Art, Culmets - Freeform, Fanart, M/M, Tumblr, honey mushroom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:07:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23818171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jemppu/pseuds/Jemppu
Summary: Part of"Honey Mushroom"series of Culmets momentslisted here on tumblr, and of"Months"moments, taking place before the couple's ultimate Discovery mission.Since exchanging contact infos on their brief encounter at the Starbase 10 platforms, shortly after their first meeting on Alpha Centauri, Hugh and Paul have been in contact via video calls several times now.With illustration:"Keeping in Touch"
Relationships: Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets
Series: Months [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1082124
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	A Rare Individual

**Author's Note:**

> The series gets released quite out of order, as inspiration dictates, so I urge you to check out the [series list on tumblr](https://tinyurl.com/honeyshroom).

## 

## Months: A Rare Individual 

“Another week, another town”, Paul greets Hugh as he opens the line.

Hugh glances over to his screen and sees Paul indeed wave at him from a previously unfamiliar room. It doesn’t seem like a bad looking place at all, from what Hugh can see.

“Which paradise are you trapped in this time?” the doctor smiles.

“Paradise?” Paul asks genuinely confused, while turning the monitor around to show Hugh a better general view of the space.

“You are visiting some pretty fancy locations with those seminars”, Hugh comments, particularly fascinated by the windowed doors opening up to a balcony - it’s late in the evening there and already dark, but is that an ocean view in the distance?

“All I have time to see are conference halls and starship terminals”, Paul replies, propping the device up on a table overlooking the room, and sits down on a bed to remove his shoes.

He is coming straight from his lecture, where he had had to rush to directly from his delayed flight. No time to prep or to ease into the presentation. He had spent the whole day agitated by the rush, struggling to keep up the ‘enthusiastic researcher’ facade for the audience and all through the tedious and soul crushing after show mingling. He was glad once it was all finally over.

This is the first he is in this room too. His luggage still waiting unpacking by the door. If he’ll even bother for the weekend. Likely not.

“What a waste of a perfectly good weekend of potential scientific breakthroughs”, Paul grumbles, kicking his shoes off.

“Mm-hmm. With that amount of traveling, it is indeed wonder you get much done”, Hugh commiserates, despite thinking Paul is currently disregarding how golden a cage he seems to be ‘locked up’ in.

“Oh, you telling me?” Paul huffs, and goes on to loosen his shirt collar, “frustrates the fuck out of me, these distractions! Highly counterproductive for the work”.

“I do understand, but it also assures you can keep doing what you love, doesn’t it”, Hugh tries to console the man - remind him of the ultimate purpose of his required ‘presentation trips’.

“Gotta appease the sponsors”, Paul snarks, removing his suit jacket and throwing it aside.

“And like running around giving these speeches and lectures wasn’t enough of a time killer”, he goes on venting, standing up from the bed, enough to reach for something off-screen, “there are also these what ever balls they make me do appearances at…”.

Paul pops back on the screen, holding a scrambled stack of devices, “…to shake a bunch of hands, just so they can brag about 'their investment’ to all the likely minded”.

“Makes me feel like I’m their fucking property or something”, Paul huffs almost as if to himself, while laying out the devices on the bed around him.

“Well, I can’t personally blame them for wanting to show you off”, Hugh replies. There’s a hint of playfulness in his voice, which seems to vanish as he adds, “I would proudly do just the same, if you were mine to show”.

Paul finds himself rather caught off guard by this unexpected casual compliment. There didn’t sound to be a hint of sarcasm in that second remark. It wasn’t just a general nicety, was it? There was some serious allusions there.

He peeks over to the monitor to see, if Hugh is there and if his face might be giving off any cues, but there’s nothing on the screen but a table and what seems like a couch corner - the man himself has disappeared somewhere off-screen.

“Am I being a total bitch about this?” Paul asks unexpectedly. Surprising even himself with this sudden frankness.

Hugh’s laugh has a hint of surprise in it’s tone as well. “Yeah, it sounds a bit like you might be”, he agrees, “I get it though - this is all but a side task for you to get to your ultimate goal: keep your research alive and funded”.

“Right… right”, Paul nods now powering up his devices, setting chargers for which need it, “I wouldn’t like to get too caught up in this PR side of things”.

“Indeed”, Hugh agrees, “you’re a scientist, not a public relations manager”. Hugh chuckles, “not with what I’ve seen of your people skills, I’m sorry to say”.

Paul smiles to himself. The man is right of course - he got a pretty solid demonstration upon their first meeting, of the level of tolerance Paul has for people in general. Though he might have acted unusually confrontational then, due to prior irk.

And maybe even for having had few in him by that point already. Which had been rather unbecoming of him as well, and obviously doesn’t speak too highly of his character either, so why mention it. For all he knows Hugh is already aware of it anyway, Paul tells himself.

Paul can see a glimpse of movement in the corner of the screen - the man is somewhere right next to the monitor.

“But really: enjoying cocktails and mingling with 'high society’?” Hugh sighs, “such an 'awful’ life you sound to be leading there”.

Not this trip - this trip has so far been but a flight, lecture hall and far too many hand shakes and feigned smiles. Hugh is no doubt referring back to a dinner event Paul had to attend as a representative of their research team couple weeks ago.

“Meanwhile I’ve spent the day swabbing samples of Andorian flu for the lab to cultivate, in an office with a broken A/C”, Hugh sighs.

There’s a hint of exhaustion in the doctor’s voice Paul doesn’t think he’s heard before.

“I’d take the lab any day over these crowds”, Paul remarks, “and what ever you are doing out there, as a doctor, it is infinitely nobler anyway, than any of this going around kissing ass, selling myself business”.

“Oh, the things we do…”, Hugh remarks, and it sounds like his thought gets interrupted.

There’s a slights pause, and Paul sees Hugh pick up his device and appear on the screen. He seems to be laying on a couch. “I’ve come to take you don’t particularly care for people”, Hugh says with a touchingly gentle smile.

Paul immediately wipes off the frown he realizes he has on his face. “It depends on the people”, he says, relenting the irritated tone in his voice as well. “Crowds I detest, but as individuals rare someones can be fine”, he smiles and makes sure Hugh sees it.

The device seems to be placed back on the table and Hugh disappears somewhere off the screen again. It’s comforting to share this interaction and still know he is not bothering, or interrupting the doctor’s usual going-ons.

“One such individual comes to mind right away”, Paul suddenly speaks in a notably gentler tone.

“Straal?” Hugh’s voice sounds out with a hint of laughter somewhere from a further distance, teasingly brushing aside Paul’s obvious intended implication.

“Hah!” Paul is surprised for the doctor to bring up his research partner, let alone remember his name, “I do hope the bastard is taking good care of my kiddos, or there will be hell to pay”

“The next one of these damn trips will definitely be on him”, Paul grumbles jestingly, “he’s hogging Stella all to himself!”

Their precious sample - Hugh knows this already from their previous conversations.

“It’s cute”, Hugh’s voice comes back closer, “you two raising kids together”.

Paul laughs. He finds himself continuously delighted by the doctor’s wit. And Hugh seems to be quick to pick up on things too. Though, Paul feels he probably has to better explain his relationship with Straal to the doctor some time soon, to avoid any misunderstandings.

“But he’s not there at the seminar with you?” Hugh asks, “how come? Wasn’t this both of your research after all?”

“Oh, he’s busy working on this another project on the side with his lady”, Paul answers, not fully trying to hide the scent of scorn in his voice either. But appreciative, that Amelia got brought up so effortlessly right away - should help clear any possible confusion.

“Huh?” Hugh huffs on the line, sounding contemplative, “I don’t know better, so correct me, if I’m wrong here, but it hardly seems fair, that he gets to concentrate his efforts on two of his projects…”

“While I have to put aside my creative time to attend these god awful crowd pleasing ceremonies to keep our **one** project going! Right?” Paul interrupts eagerly, “Exactly what I’ve been telling him too - thank you!”

 _“This man…”,_ Paul thinks smiling to himself, _“this man seems to get him”._

There’s a lengthy pause in the conversation and it doesn’t feel at all uncomfortable.

Paul is currently browsing some local tourist guide on one of his devices - not like he’d have any intention to utilize them, but he got caught up by a link, while trying to hook up to the hotel’s network. He meant to be searching for possible first reviews of his lecture earlier. This while aware, that Hugh must be concentrating on what ever it is the man is doing on his end.

It’s the most natural Paul has ever felt in such an interaction - not a hint of awkwardness or pressure to keep on unnecessary banter to fill a lull in the conversation. He feels at home, and it’s blissfully relaxing.

These “hang outs” with Hugh are well on their way to becoming a stable. And have come to mean much more, than Paul could’ve imagined. He no longer comes 'home’ lonely. Something, he hadn’t realized had ever been an issue, until it wasn’t anymore. He even has some reason to leave his laboratory workstation at the end of days now. Well, when their times match: the time differences between Hugh’s post and Deneva tend to fluctuate.

“If you’ll do these trips still, I could come accompany you some time”, Hugh’s gentle voice suddenly comes back on line.

“Really?” Paul responds nonchalantly before the full delight of the suggestion has time to sink in, “you’d do that?”

“ _“Do that”_ ?” Hugh chuckles, “you make it sound like a fancy hotel get-away would be some sacrifice”.

“No. Yes”, Paul is finally catching up on the proposal, “that… that sounds wonderful”.

“That is, if you’re still comfortable with leaving the kids with Straal”, Hugh jokes.

“Well, hells yeah. In this case, anything”, Paul attests in all seriousness, “I’d love to meet you”.

Is he coming off bit too eager? He really doesn’t care - it’s sincere.

This would be their first meeting in person, since they exchanged contacts on that starship platform in a hurry. Which had been their second brief, unexpected and argumentative encounter.

“Maybe we’ll get to even shake hands this time”, Paul jests.

Hugh laughs, “weren’t you just complaining how you’ve gotten enough of that”.

“I also said it depends on the individual”.

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts on the work posted along with the illustration on [**tumblr**](https://jmalkki.tumblr.com/post/174300186519/keeping-in-touch-start-of-a-project-inspired-by).
> 
> _Likes, shares, comments and what have you, all appreciated on:_  
>  _[ **tumblr**](http://jmalkki.tumblr.com/) | [**twitter**](https://twitter.com/Jemppu) | [**instagram**](https://www.instagram.com/jeminamalkki/) | [**DeviantArt**](https://www.deviantart.com/jemppu)_


End file.
